Make Your Own Soft Scrub

I talked about in a recent post that as my cleaners run out I am going to start making my own. I have been buying "natural" cleaners for years now. I have tried shaklee, method, seventh generation and melaleuca products. All of them work wonderfully and I have been worried that what I make myself just won't do the job that the store bought products do. However, the more I read, the more I am realizing that the DIY recipes are working for people. Not only are they really cleaning, but they are MUCH cheaper than store bought alternatives and not bad on the environment.

You can google DIY cleaning products and get a slew of recipes. I was unsure of which ones worked the best so I started with one of my fav sites Healthy Child Healthy World. I was running out of "soft scrub" and found a recipe on their fb page (check out their video link -how to make your own eco friendly soft scrub).

Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/8 cup liquid castile soap (if you want a thicker consistency, add less or vice versa)
• 1 tsp vegetable glycerin
• 10 drops of essential oil (this is not necessary but if you want it to smell good then choose your scent!)

She recommends Dr. Bronners liquid castile soap which I found at Whole Foods. They have many scents or plain so you can choose what you like. I already had lavender essential oil so I mixed it in and it smells so yummy! You can use a repurposed squeeze bottle or buy one. Mix all together (I used the handle of my mixer) and clean away!

This took me all of about 5 minutes to make. Super easy, and best of all it WORKS! I would love to hear your fav DIY cleaning recipes so I can try them out as well!

Why worry about what cleaning products you are using? Most of the every day cleaning products people use around their home are releasing fumes into the air that can exacerbate allergies, sinuses and asthma. Some families have found that when they have switched to all natural cleaners, their child's asthma has completely ceased! Crazy right?! Not only do they help with clean air in your home, but allows for a lower risk of your kids getting into deadly products. Most of the items used in DIY are not products that are particularly harmful. Even if you keep them locked away, your little ones are touching, crawling etc. everything in your house which has ultimately been cleaned with a not-so-good-for-you cleaning product. Lastly, (here is my tree hugger coming out!) people forget that what products they are using to clean with end up down the drain and into our water system! Yuck!

I totally get that not everyone has the desire to change over cleaning products. You have used your pledge for years now and why switch now? I believe you should do what works best for you and your family. However, I didn't even think about how my use of chemicals effected myself (at the time I learned of all of this I didn't have Cody) or the earth. My house would smell like a chemical factory when I finished cleaning. It wasn't until I started reading and seeing what my footprint was leaving behind did I want to change it. Hopefully after reading this post you can see how easy it really is to DIY and remember that if you want to change your products over take your time! It is too overwhelming to try and do it all so as you run out of something, try to DIY and see what happens! You might be pleasantly surprised :)